LilMeggs
San Jose, CA
Instead of an actress and aerospace engineer, we have a corporate girlie, whose grandpa is the CEO of the company, and a GPS engineer who is a prodigy in his field. The ML and FL are technically grade school sweethearts, who keep running into one another at different points in their lives, but seeming to miss one another.
I would sum this up as a sweethearts to strangers to friends to strangers to online lovers to strangers to coworks to lovers, romance. When I say they keep missing one another, I mean it!
I loved Janice Wu in this, a quirky yet mature businesswoman who wants to help her grandpa's sub-company not go bankrupt while correcting all the internal fraud that is being committed by the VP. I loved seeing Vin Zhang finally in a lead role, and not being a side character to a Dilraba drama... which is funny because I just said that this drama reminded me of a Dilraba drama.
In the 30-40 something episode drama, the writer and director took their time letting us get to know all the characters and their roles in the company as well as follow them throughout different projects - I felt like I was a part of the team! And I appreciate a drama that is well written and shot, not feeling like it is dragging... because I know these longer Chinese dramas and feel scary and boring when seeing how many one-hour episodes there are.
The romance was very cute, and honestly a bit sexy ... more than I have seen in a Cdrama before. I fell for both characters and wanted them to find love so badly with one another, and once they were together, it was sweet.
But going along with that point, I had to knock a point off because there were times throughout that I had no idea what was going on, and why the FL was crying or why the ML was comforting her or why the ML thought it was cool to start making out with the FL during an argument. There were also times when either one of them would be in a sales meeting and I had no idea what was going on... especially when the company seemed to be a huge factor or when the meeting ended up being fake? It is hard to explain even now because I feel like I was... on drugs and a part just flew over my head.
Other than that, loved this.
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Short and sweet, I really liked this drama. It was one that has been on my list ever since I saw the trailer pop up on Netflix, and I would say it exceeded my expectations far beyond what I thought. I thought this was going to be a cute romance between a mother and her daughter's tutor, but instead ended up being about finding first and true love in your mid to late 30's (I assumed that is their age), about the high expectations that society and parents put on students to be the top of the class, and about chosen family (one of the only times I have seen a non-traditional family in a korean drama).
We need to normalize/have more dramas with mature adults who have their shit figured out (even if they don't have everything figured out, they are confident in the basics). There have been so many instances where I have watched a drama about two 20-somethings, and they make dumb decisions because of dumber reasons. Whereas in this drama, the ML and FL have a set of personal morals and stick with them throughout. Their morals are challenged, but as the characters evolve and begin to understand what is most important to them in life and what they want to fight out, only then do their morals change, for the better.
I was also surprised that this drama hit me as much as it did - me being a single female with no kids, but still trying to put myself in our FL's shoes, trying to understand what it would be like if I had a child and they were going through everything her daughter was. How frustrated I would get whenever the "mom squad" would show up on screen and gossip and plot how to get their child to the top, even if it meant starting scandals about their child's classmates/friends.
This drama definitely hit the feels.
I would say the only thing that made me not give this a perfect 10, was because of the whole serial killer side plot. They did a good job of blending it into the main storyline and plot, but I feel like it didn't hold any weight. The only person who seemed to be stressing about it was the lawyer because she had to deal with it directly, but even when her part in the murders is "resolved" she moves on to her next controversy. I felt like everyone and their mom was fine with this serial killer going around and murdering students and teachers who were linked to Pride Academy like it was a normal Tuesday. And the way the serial killer was ultimately caught and how that whole side plot was "solved" was so anticlimactic... that it was never mentioned again and everyone moved on like there wasn't some person going around murdering people and was in the middle of kidnapping one of the mains. There was only one person who seemed to grieve, but even that was a short minute or two until a whole different subplot was introduced.
The last episode was super random as well, with the introduction of a separate last-minute plot. I would have rather watched an episode or two of the main characters grieving and healing from this serial killer who targeted them and kidnapped one of them, with the intent of killing them. Instead, we get a random subplot that made the daughter act super out of character and was honestly not needed. I understand it was a way to introduce what the FL wanted to do after her daughter got into college, but that could have been introduced in a completely different way.
Other than that, I liked it. Everything else was great and I binged watched the whole thing in 2 days.
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The reason why this took me so long to finish was that I felt like it went on and on and nothing really happened. But I mean that in a good way. It felt peaceful. It really captured the essence of what I believe it to be like when Yoon Hye Jin moved to a small seaside community, after living in the business of Seoul. We got to get to know the small community as we got to know everyone and their own individual stories. Yes, this was a love story between Yoon Hye Jin and Hong Doo Shik, but the drama was split up almost equally between all the other townspeople, whether it be the friendship between Kim Gam Ri and her two best friends near the end of their lives, Yeo Hwa Jeong getting a second chance at love, and Yu Cho Hui coming back to the town she loved, being around the people she loved, while learning to love and accept herself, when her family didn't. And there are so many more stories to follow... including... a fake kpop boy band, who I wish came out with more songs.
But what I thought was always interesting, was there there was always this hint of darkness in the background. It came and went, but it was masked by the easygoingness of this homey town.
It wasn't until the final few episodes, where coincidentally is right where I stopped watching almost a year ago, that this darkness was exposed. It made me ugly cry watching, as it felt like I was watching a completely different show, but I loved how the writer and director decided to "solve" the final obstacle. I truly felt that I was watching a show about mature people. Even if they do sometimes act like puppy dogs and gossip, when it really mattered, everyone stepped up and somehow knew exactly what to do to comfort one another, even if they couldn't find the words.
And because of that, I wanted to give this drama a high rating.
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Cheesy, Obsessed, Insta Love.
There is always a special type of cringe with manga-made dramas. I am not sure if it is the insta love that happens in the first 5 minutes because there at always 8-10 eps, 20 minutes each, so we have to fast-forward everything, or if it is how the characters seem to freeze in place sometimes, mimicking the panels in a comic. Or maybe it is how the director is trying to convince the watcher that the two main characters love one another.I wasn't really sure what this drama was supposed to accomplish. It might have been showing how the characters met and fell in love and how Yuri came to understand what it meant to be a gang boss's lover. Or maybe it was about something completely different.
My thoughts? It felt more like two people who were obsessed with the idea of what they thought love was, and became obsessed with one another. Honestly... I wasn't even sure if Yuri herself, in the show, was actually in love with Oya. She seemed scared half the time, and the other half worrying she would never see him again... but it was all trumped by how horny she was for him.
I was definitely entertained by how over-the-top everything was, which included the three VERY quick "bosses" - the "love rival" best friend, the jealous gentleman caller, and a literal mafia boss. All quick over top people who served their purpose for 20 minutes and then disappeared.
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Two Separate Dramas
I am a little late to the game with watching and reviewing this drama, but better late than never. I wanted sooo badly to love this, especially since I am a HUGE fan of Rachel Park and was waiting for her to come out with a new drama, but ultimately, this one was a bit of a flop.I felt that I was watching two different dramas, but I also feel that what other top reviewers disliked/liked about this show, I felt the opposite. I couldn't get past the first half - I felt that it was overly cheesy and there wasn't a single actor that I was rooting for. I felt that San Eun had a very unique service that she provided, but didn't seem to understand the world and the people in it. She knew she was doing the right thing, but didn't understand consequence whatsoever. Ji Ho was portrayed as a wallflower and mysterious, where a good portion of the beginning, other characters thought he was this neighborhood murderer. We saw that he was going to "speech therapy" but more so for how to conversate with other people. And I hated how they never really explained why and how after finding this out. He was just awkward and shut other people out due to his upbringing and previous relationships. Then we have Hae Jin, who was the youngest son of the Kang conglomerate family, who "ran away," trying to make a life for himself as an actor as well as trying to find his first love.
In the first 8 episodes, it takes a while until we get to the point where Sang Eun signs a contract with both men - being the wife of Judge Ji Ho and helping him build work relationships with his co-workers AND being the hidden fiance of actor Hae Jin to help with his family trying to pressure him into marrying other daughters in high positions.
It was rough watching these first 8 episodes because right off the bat in ep one, we know that Sang Eun has a crush on Ji Ho, her fake husband of 5 years.. so we knew that was the end game. But what made it rough for me personally, was that in the first 8 eps, I knew Hae Jin's first love was Sang Eun, and I was more into him than Ji Ho.
Then we get to ep 9, and it felt that the script switched.
I found myself really liking Judge Ji Ho all because his character became this new person, who was talkative, straightforward, swoony, hilarious, and overall this cute inexperienced man. I felt myself falling for Hae Jin more and more, but ultimately ugly crying because I felt so bad for the guy in his love life, family life, and professional life. He went through soooo much character development, but at what cost? All the people around Sang Eun went through some development because of her and her love for each of them, but she herself didn't go through much change. I think she started to better understand how actions have consequences, but at the same time, even to the end, she refused to ask for help and always wanted to suffer alone and separate herself from people to do it. And it ultimately made me not super like her character... but at the same time, she did help a lot of people.
I very much enjoyed the second half of this drama, but at the same time, it really didn't have a strong plot and this HUGE situationship everyone was tied into because of Project Jamie, had such a simple and lame solution. Some of these side characters were about to throw away their lives and careers in order to solve this issue, but ultimately...and obviously that was something Jamie had to solve herself... in a VERY simple manner. I was like... that was disappointing. Did I miss something because of how she reacted after everything happened? Because it felt like a simple fix.
Usually, after a drama, I will look up an actor or two that I really enjoyed watching something else they were in... and I feel that the ONLY person that I truly enjoyed in this was Woo Gwang Nam. He was quirky, funny, sweet, and a solid best friend/brother character and I felt that his situation was the only one I could get behind / I think I ugly cried for him the most, almost tied with Hae Jin. I actually found myself very attracted to him when he became a bodyguard. I honestly think that I would LOVE to see a spin-off drama with him and Hae Jin finding love while working in their company. As long as Hae Jin isn't falling in love with his lawyer. HELL NO.
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I wish I had written this review after I had finished this drama, as now it has been 2 months, and I can't exactly remember why I gave it a 9.5/10, but I will try my best to remember. From what I do remember was back in August, I decided to go on a drama binge with actor Lee Jong Suk - someone who is very famous, but have never watched a single thing with him in it. I also remember knowing that of all the drama I had watched, this one was by far my favorite. There is something about dramas that came out in the mid 2010's that have this nostalgic feel when watching... and they all seem to be on the same page - being great and having great plots. Also, it could be that a lot of actors and actresses were babies in the mid 2010's, and going back and watching a drama from 10 years ago and seeing them sooo young, makes me soo happy.
This drama was very funny - I have a lot of videos on my phone of different scenes that I had sent to friends to show them how funny the dialog was.
I think the only thing that stopped me from giving this a 10 star review was even though I loved the chemistry and relationship between the two mains, Choi Dal Po had this weird character trait where he felt that being mean wand pushing people he loved away was the only way to protect them. I also get though that there was a odd level to the mains relationship - growing up together as niece and adopted uncle, but having a crush on one another, both not able to act on it because.. homeboy was adopted. Plus the ending seemed to be cut short, but I am slowly learning that this type of situation where the elder has the final say in things is a cultural thing and is respected. I remember watching this other drama years ago where the mains couldn't get together because the FL's dad forbade it and it was law. It wasn't until they got his blessing that they could get back together - I thought it was stupid and knocked it down a few stars in my review. But over the years, I slowly started to learn and take other cultures into account when trying to immerse myself in different shows. And now it makes more sense. Do I like this troupe? No. But I've learned that it is a valid obstacle.
I do remember loving the two mains and their chemistry though - they were truly best friends and family before deciding on a romantic relationship, which ultimately made their bond stronger and their love extremely romantic and enjoyable to watch.
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My thoughts? This is probably one of my favorite kdramas I have ever watched if not tied for first place for 2022. I loved how the story wasn't what I was expecting - two people who signed up for a 24 hour frozen human experiment, but end up getting frozen for 20 years, and when waking up trying to live their new normal as well as trying to survive (as they were ultimately test subjects to see if a human can be frozen).
I loved both characters, regardless of what other reviews say. Ma Dong Chan was a bit rough, but once he is a recipient of Go Mi Ran's love, he starts to realized what true love is supposed to look like. After, we start to see this romantic af side of Dong Chan, who was a little jealous at... most times, but ultimately knew they were both in certain position that wanted him to be her protector. Go Mi Ran on the other hand was a 24 year old girl (in 1999) who was on the surface very headstrong, but internally extremely selfish, doing things to help others and take care of her younger special needs brother. Both characters butt heads in the beginning, only seeing the surface level versions of one another, but through this experiment and shared experience, they become close and learn to love one another. BUT I can easily find a lot of reviews on MyDramaList that will disagree with my statement.
Maybe I am too much of an empath for my own good - where I found myself constantly ugly crying trying to imagine myself being in both their situations... trying to imagine their day to day lives changing in the blink of an eye. Who cares if Dong Chan might have been a bland character? I actually really enjoyed how both characters were mundane family oriented everyday people. It made their reactions and experiences to waking up 10 years later that much more relatable. ALSO, I think I have this weird talent where I am able to watch or read anything and just completely accept and immerse myself in the world. Did I think the whole let's experiment on dolphins and whales and then now people a little odd - like jumping from step 1 to step 6? Yes. I feel like there might have been a few other steps we could have done between... but I also think it added to the urgency of finding an antidote/medicine with Dong Chan and Mi Ran facing side effects.
At the end of the day.. this was a romance drama. And I was fully immersed and ugly cried for a good portion of it - their experiences of wanting to love like normal people, trying to rebuild their relationships after 20 years of disappearing and people thinking they had died, and ultimately them feeling like they missed out on years of their life and figuring out how to adapt while trying to figure out their next steps and how they fit into this new normal. This is also probably one of my favorite Ji Chang Wook dramas, and honestly.. believed in him and Won Jin Ah's chemistry and love for one another.
Honestly, I do agree that were some places where the drama could have been better, but I was extremely happy with what I was given.
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I remember my previous roommate watching this one and loving it, a few years back, but also that she had a knack for spoiling plot lines... which is why I kept putting this one on the backburner. Now, a few years later, all I knew about this drama was that it was a love story about a girl and her "book boyfriend" and that Lee JOng Suk was in it... and I still can't believe this is the first drama I have ever watched with him in it.
Overall, I very much enjoyed the beginning and end of the drama. The middle was alright.. but I felt like there were 10 different subplots in the middle where I honestly forgot why certain characters would start blinking out of existence. I liked the newness and surprise from the characters in the beginning whenever they would meet in the comic world and how much Kang Chul had this childlike wonder when it came to Yeon Joo. Then at the end, when they were both in life of death situations, I loved how Kang Chul would do anything to keep Yeon Joo safe and happy. That being said... I am not sure if it was the 10 different subplots, or Lee Jong Suk's acting... but I could NEVER tell what he was thinking. Even when he would come out and say how her was feeling, I still didn't believe it. I felt that Kang Chul's character went through 5 different character changes, along with the plot changes... where I just didn't believe that he was in love with Yeon Joo until the very end. Then we have Yeon Joo... who was this spazzy but strong character in the beginning and then gradually just became this person that her dad and Kang Chul needed to protect. Eventually... I just didn't care much about her or her character.
I don't think I will watch this again, BUT I am curious to see another Lee Jong Suk drama to figure out if it was the script or it was just the way he acts. I feel like I've been a similar drama like this.. but instead of a comic book, a video game, and it was done a lot better. Don't get me wrong, I loved some of the subplots that were thrown in.. but others, I felt were unnecessary. If I was a mundane living in this world and waiting each week for an episode to be uploaded... TBH... I might have dropped it once there was a supernatural element to it. Plus...I would have been bummed by the comic ending.
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I enjoyed the story and how it was almost like Captain Pra's journey of understanding the LGBTQ+ community and learning to accept and love his older brother for the person she was born to be. And I apologize if I am misusing pronouns as the subtitles on youtube weren't the best - how Pra's brother used her/she pronouns, but everyone called her an older brother, whereas Noona's sister used she/her pronouns and everyone called her an older sister.
I enjoyed the premise of both Pra and Noona going "undercover" at the cabaret, Pra trying to arrest Decha for illegal drugs and Noona trying to figure out why her sister disappeared. Going off that, the drama did seem to drag a bit. I feel that 75% of this was about Pra and Noona annoying one another as well as falling in love. I believe this could have turned from 22 episodes to an easy 12/14. But maybe I am biased as I feel that Pra went through a lot of character change and development, and could no stand Noona's character. She was very unlikable and at some point near the end, even her sister was like... yo.. you have no right to be mad at Pra because you did the same to him... and he did it because he was on an undercover mission with the police force... you did it for shits and giggles.
I don't understand how I was able to sit through 22 eps just for the main characters to realize that they were both not who they said they were in the last 5 minutes. BUT I did enjoy the acceptance that Pra found in his heart as well as the relationship he had with his family - Pree, Parn and Tanu. Tanu was a down-ass best friend. I would fall in love with him too.
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Found this on on Tiktok, came for Kim So Hyun, continued to watch for Ji Soo. This was a cute and quick short story drama about three students who lives were forever changed by one another, each finding their own love/relationships with performing the piano. Yoo Seul was born a prodigy, but hated performing due to the intense pressure her mother put on her. Jin Mok loved playing the piano, but was always told he would amount to nothing by Yoo Seul, her mother (his old piano teacher) as well as his father, and always came in second to Yoo Seul. Cha Sik was an aspiring Olympian, but after an accident, he wanted to feel closer to his birth father and decided to take up the piano.
All teenagers went through their own trauma, but when Cha Sik came into their lives, he helped unknowingly reignite Yoo Seul's passion for the piano as well as put Jin Mok in a position where he got praise from the people he always wanted reassurance from. I love love loved Cha Sik;s positive energy, as he always made every situation into a positive one, and always put 110% into his goals, either is be learning the piano in a short amount of time, or proving to Yoo Seul that she had made teh right decision trusting him to be her eyes. I loved that even though Cha Sik was going through his own internal struggle with his dreams taken away from him, he saw Yoo Seul's new reality, and wanted to help her out, to hopefully bring a smile to her face. I don't think there was an evil bone in his body, and always did everything for others, even though Jin Mok thought he was this loud mouthed selfish guy, and I cried at the end when we finally saw him breakdown.
I loved the ending, and I understand why everything happened the way it did. It gave everyone their own version of a happy ending, but I would be lying if I said that what Cha Sik gave up didn't mess with my heartstrings. But at the same time, I also don't think he really gave up anything, but in turn gave two other people an opportunity to fall back in love with the piano again, but on their own terms and together.
But with that, I had so many questions about the ending. Like did Yoo Seul every figure out who she was performing with? And based on that answer, what were the relationships of everything after that? I wanted a classic happy ending, knowing that everyone was together and happy, but instead we got a different version of a happy ending. Satisfying, but because I fell in love with Cha Sik, I wanted to know what happened to him and if he got his version of a happy ending. Did he get into music school or is piano now more a hobby? Is he still Yoo Seul's aid? Are Yoo Seul and him still friends after she found out what he did, or was that information never disclosed? and if it wasn't, what of Jin Mok and her's new relationship? Not saying that the ending we got wasn't satisficing, but it left so many open ended questions...but I guess his lie wouldn't have been as bad as the lie his mother told him in order to motivated him to play the piano...because that was rough.
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I'm still confused by what I watched; this was recommended after I watched "You Are Me," another lakorn about twins switching places in order to solve a murder/assassination attempt on the other twin.I instantly was drawn in with the characters and story in the beginning, lost interest around ep 10, but pushed through until the ended where we learned about how this simple, "who killed my brother" plot turned into this domino effect of jealousy. We knew who was involved in this plan from the get go - it was obvious by the drama opening credits, but we never knew how or why until the second to last and the last episode. and let me tell you, I WAS SHOOK.
But, I think the best part of this lakorn, compared to other revenge stories, was that that the plot kept on giving and getting better. It wasn't a typical, "I have daddy issues, so I go around grumpy and ruining people's lives." Instead, there were some real motivations behind why people did what they did, and the theme I got was that everyone can be bought at a price.
Unfortunately, that was the only thing holding this drama up. I wish that characters were more....likeable.
Siwakorn, after the death of this brother, is determined to find out who killed him and why. As a character outside of revenge, he was extremely likeable. I loved him and Dao's interactions before they officially met and he was trying to be Siwat. I loved there cute interactions when they were lost in the forest, him trying to save her life. But when Korn got too enveloped in his plot for revenge, he started acting like a grade A jerk to everyone, and even moreso to Dao. It broke my heart seeing these interactions, but we ultimately got Korn back when an apparition (yes....you heard that right) of his brother talked some sense into him. After, he comes clean to Dao and tries to earn back an ounce of trust. It was a honest an supportive Korn I could get behind. It was almost like a 180 switch.
Dao was a complex character for me. She was passionate about what she believed in, but it was hard for anyone to change her mind about anything. She was protective of her family, even though she also wanted to bring her aunt down. She was passionate about her one opinion, that her uncle/father was the center of her world and she would do everything to protect him, which made her extremely stubborn. But then there were times where she was calm and cool and the most mature person in the room.
Chorpae, I hated. She was just an all around mean person who was mean because she could. I also wished for her demise and understood why people wanted to take her down. Which is why I was surprised when I feel like the writer tried to redeem her at the end...while I was sitting there like...yeah... idc.
I am still trying to process the ending - it felt like a chaotic dream and felt that they did Siwakorn dirty. I understand that we all can't have sunshine and rainbow endings, and they needed to address all the repercussions of head injuries, because there were a lot in this story, but....really? Did we need to add a typical telenovela troupe right at the very end?? I'm still confused by it all, and how Chorprae, in my opinion, got better ending than Siwakorn did. Plus, Mek and Chat were barely in this and they got a happier ending. I overall just felt bad for Dao being born into this family and also bad for her good friend Thada who was a decent cop who followed all the rules, but in the end probably lost just as much as Dao did.
Even though, I wasn't a fan of the characters and the ending, this was a decent revenge lakorn, and probably one of my tops in terms of plot, next to You Are Me. I recommend this just for the insane plot, but if you are very character driven, maybe not.
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This is a lot better - if you are deciding either to watch this lakorn vs (what I like to call the reunion drama) Praomook, this one is the way to go. I watched Praomook with both Pon and Bua before watching this one, and I feel that, that drama was a step back in many ways. If anything, I felt that their chemistry was a lot better in this one, which makes zero sense to me as this one was their first together. As for the storyline, I felt this one was a little more "justified" (and I use that word loosely) - we have a revenge story about a a boy named Peat who hated life because his father was never there for him and his mother, and around the same time his mother died, his father brings home another wife and adopted her daughter, Kiew, who happened to be the same girl he was starting to fall in love with at university. In a fit of rage, he is determined to get revenge on his father who was convinced was a adulterer, as well as Kiew, who be believed to be a gold-digger.
I feel like this story was broken out into a few different thoughts;
Peat having absolute zero trust in anyone, living off his prejudices and thinking the worst of people. He became almost this boy who called wolf character, where he kept doing bad, until the moment bad actually happened that he was not apart of, but it was too late and everyone associated him with anything bad that happened.
We very toxic friendship - Peat's friend group (him, Kriss, Chaya, and Katha) was this weird toxic energy where these people would do things to hurt one another, but Katha was trying to keep the glue together and justify that it is all love and we all get jealous sometimes. And I tried to accept this fact, but I feel like there is a line that is crossed when someone wants to seek revenge on you, so they kidnap your wife, steal from your company, pin it on you, and holds you at gun point. The way everything was fixed at the end was so casual, that I was anxious because how would you act around people like that after everything that had happened?
We saw a few different evils - Peat would emotionally manipulate people, but would mix his revenge in with his true feelings of love. We see this with his love with Kiew. It was almost like he was killing two birds with one stone - he got to act on his love for her, but also emotionally abuse her as a way to get back at his father. Both he can do while keeping her close. We saw Kriss's act out of jealousy and his love for Chaya. And maybe whoever is reading this will dislike me for saying this, but I enjoyed Kriss's chaos. I hated that he was doing this because of his love for Chaya, because honestly f*** that girl, but I felt that the story needed Kriss's revenge plot as a wake up call for Peat. I truly believe that Kiew's love wasn't enough for Peat to want to stop with his revenge plot. Maybe a 50 / 50. Kiew was his emotional support as she was always there to defend him and take care of him, but he didn't realize how much he needed that, until Kriss stepped up to the plate and all his thought out planning finally hit all at once. Then we have Chaya who I think was the true villain of this drama, right before Peat. Chaya was motivated by her interpterion of love - she acted like an empty vessel who would follow whoever he loved blindly. In this case, she was in love with Peat and everything she did was motivated by, if I follow him blindly, he will love me. If I help him ruin his relationship with everyone, all he will have is me and he will love me. I couldn't even count on my fingers and toes how many times she told Peat to love her, and asked Kiew to break up with him and convince Peat to marry her. But the thing I disliked the most about her was that she was like the devil on Peat shoulder - every time he seemed to come up for air and contemplate if his revenge was worth all the hurt he was causing Kiew, she would bury him back down and remind him that everyone sucks and is out to get him and all he needs is her. Honestly, her fate at the end of the the drama made me give this review and extra half a star.
Kiew, unlike Praomook, was a female lead I could get behind. Throughout her journey and emotional abuse, her morals remained the same, and if anything she became a stronger individual who spoke up and knew her limit. I disliked how long she supported Peat and his abuse, but I could empathize with her believing in her love for him and that he was acting out on revenge and wasn't being himself. She remained that support for him, even after all the bad he was doing, hoping that one day it would be enough and she would comfort him with open arms. But I did appreciate that she did have a line, and when Peat crossed it, she was out. And when she decided she was out, she committed. And it made me so happy that once everything related to revenge was figured out at the end, she was like, awesome, I am happy that you guys figured it out and have no more hate against one another, but you still abused me emotionally, and that changes nothing. Eventually, though, we get our happy ending, and all if forgiven (a bit too easily in my opinion). And I would be more upset, but I did enjoy all the lovey scenes between Peat and Kiew. I felt like there was so much love there between the characters and even maybe the actors.
I would say, if you enjoyed this one, don't bother to watch Praomook. Or you could watch that one first and then this one because this drama definitely saved the day.
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This is the first time I have left a drama feeling this way - were we supposed to root for the main couple, Lun & Mook? Because half the time I could care less about Mook and I hated Lun. I feel like this drama could have been a lot shorter if Mook wasn't completely driven by her heart and what she believes love to be. I feel like giving this a 5 star review is being generous.I thought Mook was a strong independent woman who followed her dreams while taking care of her family. Once her father dies, she steps up as the breadwinner of the family and does everything in order to support her mother and sister, even if it means entering a contract marriage to the man who broke her heart in high school. After she is reintroduced to Lun, Mook goes down this downward spiral where she feels that she can take revenge on Lun, while supporting her family. Don't get my wrong, I felt terrible for Mook, as she was giving up her happiness in order to support her family, as well as being misunderstood and called a prostitute by everyone, but at the same time, I feel like Mook could have handled and responded differently. For example, instead of just keeping the course and doing what she needs to support her family and knowing that she is doing all that she can, she takes everyone's criticism to heart and starts becoming the person that everyone thinks she is. And in doing so, she said some really rough and mean things. Lun on the other hand.... I just don't understand why the audience should have rooted for him. We are introduced to him as this rebellious son who is looked down upon by his family, but learn that he does want that validation from his parents, but wants to do it in his own way and not working at his father's company. Instead, Lun expresses himself very secretively, where he wants people to think he is this bum of a guy, until the day he can randomly prove everyone wrong with a single act. Then, when he gets reintroduced to Mook, I feel that his childlike nature amplifies to the point where he starts to come up with extremely inappropriate lies to try and get out of his arranged marriage. And many of these lies were on much a huge level, in hopes that he would shatter her heart and want to divorce him. Lun's only plan is to hurt Mook so much that she will never love another human being again. And it hurt. It hurt bad. But at the same time, it is Mook's fault for not realizing her own worth, or understanding what she needs to say and do in order to live somewhat peacefully in her one year marriage. Instead, she loves to rile him up to feel like she is in control of the situation.
Funny enough is that this isn't the plot of the drama. It is a small piece, but the main plot revolves around Lun's family and their business. Lun enters a marriage with Mook, blessed by his family and shaman in order to protect him, as he is being followed by a masked stranger trying to kill him. Throughout the show, we start to get clues and hints that his "assassin" character is trying to get to Lun and his birthright position at his father's company. And that's it. It was a big game of Clue, where we have multiple suspects and we are trying to figure out if it is the ex girlfriend or the marketing manager.
Other than that, I wasn't a huge fan of most of the characters and I just wanted this drama to be over. I felt that Rut & Petch's "relationship" or insinuated relationship was extremely inappropriate. Maybe it was the 7 year age difference and Petch being 17? Maybe it was Rut being "in love" with Mook? Maybe the boss and part time high school student worker relationship? or maybe it was the fact that I truly believe if Petch was recast as a 10 year old girl, nothing about Petch's nature and personality would have been different. If the writer was smart...I think they should have paired Petch and Poom together. A, Poom was always looking out for her when she was getting her heart broken over and over again by Rut as well as supporting her at the company with her video game, type of relationship. I loved Poom...probably the only character.
But I got a lot of "men are never wrong" type of energy from this drama. Lun was literally shattering my heart over and over again, treating Mook like literal dog poop on the street, because he thought that would protect her, but the moment that everything is sorted out, and we have 20 minutes left in the drama, he comes out of no where and is like okay NOW I am ready to tell you I like you after hours and hours of telling you I hate you and to f*** off before. Nah babe...I did that to protect you.
And that is why I disliked him and this drama.
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Instead, I fell into a hole of a cute and quirky drama about two motivated career driven people who reunited after a few decades of being separated as children, falling in love with one another, and learning what is more important in their lives - each other, or their careers. (The answer is one another). And that is basically what this series was about. It was a lot of fluff, but for the first time I was okay with it. It was fun watching them fall in love while helping motivate one another pursue their lifelong dreams - Cong Rong wanting to be like her father, a lawyer, and help defend people who couldn't, and Shao Qing a successful surgeon, saving people's lives.
I loved the writing as every character was motivated by their professions, but even more passionate about their friendships (to a point where I was confused about their working hours as they kind of left whenever they wanted) and were all just extremely clever at cracking joke and being sassy. Especially, Shao Qing and his quick tongue and his sexual humor and turnaround time making us feel like we had the dirty mind. Honestly, he was not my type, until half way through when he just started teasing and romancing Cong Rong, he became my type.
It was also interesting how this series went back and forth - it seemed like there was more of a drama story with Cheng Cheng and Wen Rang where I thought they were the mains. And I would watch it.. when they were on good terms, it was swoony... but when they were on bad terms...I would get emotional.
Overall, I wish I could express how much loved this drama and given it an easy 10/10, but as I was thinking about it, this was all really well done fluff. It was extremely good, but there was no reason why this had to be 28 episodes. It got to a point where, I loved watching their journey, but there really wasn't much of a plot to want to binge it. Yes, they pulled on all our heart strings as Shao Qing was SUCH A ROMANTIC, but there really wasn't a solid plot. They attempted to add a second love interest, Lawyer Shangguan Yi, but it got to a point where we fell in LOVE with him, but he had ZERO chance of winning Cong Rong and it made me feel extremely bad for this dude. Plus, I also felt bad for Zhong Zhen who became this unnecessary comedic relief who always showed up at the wrong time, and would get playfully scolded by the two mains. And it got to a point, where I felt a little uneasy... even knowing that it was supposed to be playful and helping him grow into a better person and doctor.
I convinced myself, that this was an example of many smaller plots in a drama as the high up plot, was Cong Rong acing her internship and getting a job (which happened in the early middle) and Cong Rong & Shao Qing reuniting as lovers (which also happened in the early middle when she got her job). Everything after, I believe, is every drama watcher's desire of finding out what happened after they got together and fell in love... like a part two or epilogue. As for me... I like a good epilogue, but not all the time. I fell off a little when Cong Rong got her new job as she was just fantastic and the fluff of their relationship began and then we got to see the ups and downs of Cheng Cheng and Wen Rang's relationship that could have happened in unison with Cong Rong & Shai Qing's as most dramas do, but no. Then it all came together at the end, and I sobbed from happiness as well as from the credit scene at the end. Besides the little things, for a fluff piece, this was very well done and I enjoyed myself for the most part :)
Completely recommend if you want something light and romantic.
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I was surprised and instantly fell in love with the main Shin Hae Yoon, as she had not only lost her other half at a young age (Kang Tae Joo traveling abroad to play baseball in America), but also "developed a disease" that changed her gender. She was sad and angry, but she kept going on like it was normal and carried on with her life not trying to be a stereotypical boy or girl, but just being herself. It wasn't until Tae Joo came back from studying/playing abroad that Hae Yoon started to step outside of her comfortable boundaries and figuring out who she was and what her true feelings were. But what I loved most about her, she that even with her gender change, she still had the same mannerisms and morals that made her the same person. Whenever something happened, she would stand up and fight and when big issues came, especially when it came to telling people about her gender change, she took the time to think about what to do and what to say. Even if her actions weren't "correct" to someone else, she wasn't an impulsive person, and she always thought about is her actions would make her life as well as the other party's life more difficult.
And I wasn't sure about how it was going to go with Hae Yoon telling Tae Joo about the gender change, but to be quite honest.... I thought if would have gone smoother? Tae Joo was desperately trying to to find his old friend (and I am CONVINCED that there was some little boy love and maybe Tae Joo didn't understand his feelings completely either?) and once Hae Yoon's confession was made, Tae Joo did the most bratty / un-empath thing he could have done and understandably, Hae Yoon was hurt. I understand maybe why he might have felt that way, but it was very hurtful and I didn't quite understand the ending as well. It was cute and PG... but it almost seemed that Hae Yoon was at fault and Tae Joo's priorities were not on track.
Plus, if you were hoping to watch a series about baseball.... this is not it. There was literally no baseball played except for at the ending. Also, I was a little disappointed that Hae Yoon seemed to still love baseball and give it up because she was now a she... and at one part of the show, she showed her mad pitching skills where she might have been able to try out (cause let's get real... all of the pitching scenes we saw with Bae were NOT very good), but no. Disappointed.
Other than that, it was worth the watch and I loved Hae Yoon's friendship with Han Se Jun (or Yeo One from Pentagon) to a certain point where I very much shipped them two just because she had him as a confidant and he wanted to hear and help her in any way when she was sad. But he played the roll of a big brother to both mains instead.
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